Customer Reviews

The House of Sight and Shadow

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Joseph Bendix has been cut loose by his father. Now penniless and shunned by the Comtesse (from whom he foolishly begged a loan), this would-be physician has one friend left in the world. His friend offers a letter of introduction to noted and reclusive London physician, Dr. Edmund Calcraft.

Eager to prove his theory that illness can be both caused and cured by the mind, Bendix must set aside his own medical theories to assist his new mentor, Dr. Calcraft, with his research. Calcraft's theories are gruesome, but Bendix becomes committed when he meets and falls in love with the inspiration for Calcraft's research, the beautiful and blind Amelia Calcraft.

Cloaked in the atmosphere of early 18th century London, the novel goes beyond medical speculation and explores the corruption of the English legal system and the distinctions between social classes. The ironic ending is the gem of this cleverly thought out and well written novel.

The reason I look forward to the third work by this author is that I enjoyed his first work, however, "The House Of Sight And Shadow", does not match his previous novel, "The Requiem Shark". I even have a hard time reconciling the description on the book's jacket to what the novel contained. Eighteenth Century Medicine was certainly not sophisticated by later standards; many of the practices appear now to be either foolish or dangerous. The practices described in this book cross over to gratuitously grotesque as practiced by men who approach Frankenstein like goals. Creating life is certainly not their goal, endangering it with freakish procedures is their practice. This is all fine if a novel is meant to be that of horror, but I don't think that was the goal here.

We are presented with a Doctor who seeks to cure that which he has inflicted. The motivation for his initial damage, and the individual it was inflicted upon was never satisfactorily explained. The reader can guess why he attempts a cure in the manor he does; however a guess is all it would be. What he seeks to accomplish and what he shares with his apprentice in methodology is grotesque, but not interesting.

The author also chose to bring Daniel Defoe into the story. I don't know why he did as a fictionalized character would have served the novel just as well. It really became an effort to complete this book after a procedure takes place upon the victim/patient. The suspension of disbelief for me was impossible so that the balance of the read was labored.

The close the book is brought to is muddled as well. The attempt at a tragic love story wound around redemption and circled yet again with condemnation was far too much for a novel of this length. It takes time to set the stage for such a complex emotional ending and the ground was not prepared in this case. As the various players meet their fate or continue with their lives it's a bit hard to care.

I really was looking forward to this book, as the author's first was such a fine read. Not every effort will be as good as the rest, so I still look forward to what Mr. Griffin offers readers the next time round.

Here is a novel that is the very essence of irony, beautifully written, with fully fleshed characters and a great sense of time and place. To say it is Dickensian (as it does on the dustjacket) is to do the book a disservice because, in fact, the era is the 18th century, not the 19th--in which Dickens wrote his entire body of work.

I like books written by contemporary authors that manage successfully to lift you back in time (The Quincunx is a fine example of a truly Dickensian novel; Jack Maggs is another) and allow you to travel about with the characters, seeing what they see, breathing in the aromas, both fragrant and foul, crossing sawdust-covered floors or cobblestoned roadways. It is to Griffin's credit that he accomplishes all this. Not only does he address medical experimentations and the issue of psychosomatic illness, he also takes us along to witness some medical procedures that are jaw-droppingly awful.

My only complaint is the maddening use of the verb "smile" as a manner of speech. Almost every character does it. "This time," smiled Defoe. ... "Was not my carriage," smiled the writer ... "See," smiled Calcraft. One can understand the author trying to find some word to replace "said," but this is an irritating affectation, badly overused, that detracts from otherwise fine prose and a really quite gripping narrative.

I do recommend this novel for its fine evocation of time, place and character, and its well-executed, wrenchingly ironic ending.

You can call this book many things, a historical novel, a contemplation of medicine, an adventure, a tale of love, but the best thing about it is that it all comes together. In the end, it's a book of thought, or at least, choices in thought. This is what separates the two central characters, how they approach their work as doctors (mostly their work is gruesome, sometimes a bit too much so) and how the different paths that the decisions made in the mind can then affect the heart. What you have in THE HOUSE OF SIGHT though, is a romance that is made fragile by all the machinations of the characters who operate inside and outside of it. In the end, the book is driven by these differences that separate the heart and the mind. They may be choices that we all face, but this is exactly what makes a book set 250 years ago in England, seem relevant. Plus it kept me up at night, and I read it on holiday in London, which was a bonus. It was recommended to me by a Mystery Bookshop, but I'd have to say it's not really a mystery, not like a whodunnit, but more subtle. The ultimate revelations may be just as clear and shocking as in a mystery, but they have a rawness that means they side step the usual contrived ending.

This is a fast moving historical tale, where real life characters are mixed in with fictional ones to recreate London in the eighteenth century. I love this mixing of real and unreal, it blurs the lines and adds an authenticity to the proceedings. Here we have a young man returning from abroad, only he's not as young as he'd like - rather old, in fact, to be beginning an apprenticeship to a surgeon. As a result, he's highly ambitious and keen to get on with life. From there, our hero begins to loose his morals and awareness as he plummets into a world of prostitutes, grave robbers and convicts. The book rushes along with a finely tuned plot but it's the writing that really separates it from the pack. Griffin turns phrase after phrase, which gives the House of Sight a secondary thrill. I'm going back to read his first one and wonder even though I'm not a great reader of historical fiction. This is one good reason to take a break from biographies and such.

I am a huge fan of historical fiction, so I was very excited about starting this book. And while the story is very compelling and extremely well written, I had a hard time getting through it.

The House of Sight and Shadow tells the story of 30-year-old doctor, Joseph Bendix, who leaves Paris after being "dumped" by his lover, the Comtesse, and arrives in London searching for work. Joseph immediately moves in with Sir Edmund Calcraft, a doctor much in need of assistance. Calcraft's experiments with healing involves much of the "other side" of the law, and despite the fact that Joseph's ideal of illness and treatment are completely different, Joseph becomes the (sometimes unwilling) instrument that helps Calcraft get the job done.

This book has an array of interesting characters, such as thieves, prostitutes, and corrupt businessmen, and pulls the reader into some pretty dark and seedy places -- graveyards, the hanging tree, dark alleys, and brothels.

Despite quite a display of talent by the author, I found the descriptions very wordy and hard to get through at times. I wavered on my rating -- between a 3 and 4 is more accurate -- but settled with a 3 since my mood while reading this book just did not illicit any page-turning. There were parts that flew by, don't get me wrong, and I am certainly glad I read this book and will definitely look out for Nicholas Griffin's next novel.

Joseph Bendix returns to England after losing his fortune and heart in Paris. Bendix is an ambitious medical student interested in testing his unconventional theories. He is able to secure a position studying with Sir Edmund Calcraft and helps the elderly anatomist in the testing of his own unorthodox theories in rather unconventional ways. Both men are driven to cure the same patient, Calcraft's young and beautiful daughter. Each is willing to do anything to free her from her affliction.

This is a strange and dark story. The writing is sparse, dry and difficult, the pacing is slow especially for the first one hundred and fifty pages. I found the writing style almost stingy. It was often difficult for me to discern what was said. In fact the first time I picked this up to read it I put it back down because I had such a difficult time with the dialogue.

Not one of my favorites but certainly an interesting, yet disturbing, story. I did like the ending. This reminds me a bit of Stuart O'Nan's Prayer For The Dying. If you liked that you might like this as well.

Now we're talking. This is about ambition, plain and simple, and where it leads those who think they're good. Filled with great characters, all of whom have at least three or four motives, it makes this one great read. Plus the sense of time and place, most of these characters are drawn from real life. Imagine a Doctor Drama like ER in 18th century London and then you've got it, except don't rely on it all ending as you think.

A little background on the book, and then my review...

This book is set in 18th century London, and follows a few months in the life of an apprentice physician, who at his stage of life should not still be an apprentice, but he made some foolish love choices in the past which held back his learning & progress. The book begins as he is returning to London from Paris, searching out a new mentor, and trying to forget his past lover, who left him when he no could longer fit into her social circle because he was destitute - having been cut off from his wealthy family; i.e. he is utterly alone and lonely.

He finds his mentor, moves into his home, and begins to take part in illegal 'body snatching'- not to examine the anatomy, but rather to use the body as means to an end... And there is a love interest (that doesn't appear until about halfway through the book) that is central to the use of these bodies. Intrigued yet?

I love good historical fiction, and I took a special interest in this book because it was not only historical fiction but medical historical fiction as well! As far as the author's writing goes, I felt the book was slow moving at first, and didn't really start to hold my attention until the love interest 'appeared' in the story. As far as the content of the book, I was enthralled. It becomes easy to see how in the absence of evidence based medicine the doctors get rather carried away with their ideas of how to cure & save lives. That is also what makes the book so disturbing, because no one in todays time would ever dream of doing the things detailed in this book. It rather reminded me of believers in homeopathic medicine or other alternative medicine therapies, because when you are desperate enough you will sometimes believe anything to get better. Although I admit, at least homeopathy is SAFE!

I loved reading the crazy ideas mentor & apprentice had about how to cure people, and it made me think about how it was necessary to go through the 'dark ages' of medicine before we got to where we are today. Someone had to do the first transfusion, and lots more, before they got it right, and someone had to do the first operation, and lots more, before they got that right, and so on. And knowing what even the common person knows about medicine today, this book can be rather frightening! Let's just say they weren't exactly knowledgeable about being, oh sterile? that is actually a gross understatement, but I will not say anymore! Enjoy the book!

I couldn't make up my mind whether I enjoyed this book or not. The premise is interesting; medical student, Joseph Bendix returns to England after squandering his father's money in Paris on wine and a woman. So far all he's earned is a broken heart.

In order to regain wealth and respect in his profession, he becomes the apprentice of a notorious anatomist, Dr. Edmund Calcroft. Bendix moves into the doctor's house and soon discovers the presence of a mysterious young woman which intriques him as much as his insight into the doctor's ghoulish experiments. He feels his own brand of "mind over matter" medicine might do just as well.

Both the narrative and dialogue are written in formal 18th century style which does give a sense of time and place but tends to slow down the pace of the novel. At times it is difficult reading, although some of the macabre scenes are fascinating in a gruesome way.

Like others have mentioned, I found the ending somewhat unsatisfying. But still I couldn't get the story out of my mind which is perhaps the author's intent. And for the reader who wishes to gain insight about London's underworld from after the restoration up to the Georgian era, this is an excellent read.